The Power Of An Illusion
by Requiem For Absolution
Summary: Fifty fragments of a story written around Ienzo and Zexion. Exactly what is the Cloaked Schemer up to? And what do his illusions and Ienzo have to do with it? Why is Ienzo hearing Zexion's voice in his head? The power of an illusion is the power of life.


I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Do not sue me.

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**Tħє Pоωєя Of Ąи IĮĮυѕіои**

_**1: Midnight  
**_

The dark, sweet cool air of midnight always appealed to Ienzo. If he had to live at one time of day, that's the time he'd choose; cloaked in eternal darkness.

_**2: Shadow**_

Zexion had always preferred to stay in the shadows, but for now he was returning to the light, taking control of events that were once random, now planned, recreated for his will.

_**3: Stars **_

To stare at the stars in the night sky, to feel as though you were one with the opposite of light… The power, the allure, of the darkness had completely enthralled Ienzo.

_**4: Light **_

Zexion flinched as he entered the realm of light, shaking his hair so that it hid his face more than it usually did, as though it could shield him from the harsh sunshine that he was so unaccustomed to.

_**5: Solitude **_

To remain alone, Ienzo decided, was to be the better choice. To choose to mingle with the filthy masses with their vulgarity and uncouth manner was to be shamed. Solitude was preferable. The times he could remain truly alone were to be treasured… Yet he'd never be alone again.

_**6: Illusions **_

Illusions were creatures that were taken from the past, present, and future. To create an illusion was to swing aside the veil of time, reach in, grasp the memory of a being, and return it to the world. For a master of illusions, drifting through time was as natural as going to sleep. Not that Zexion ever slept anymore…

_**7: Sleep **_

Sleep… a time, a place, where Ienzo could not be interrupted… controlled… bullied… hurt. Sleep was his refuge, his escape from conscious life. To close your eyes and escape into unconscious thought was a gift that he was eternally grateful for. Except, of course, for the nightmares…

_**8: Voices**_

Zexion, more than once, had murmured to his illusions; soft, deceitful words, gently manipulating them to his will. His whispers carried over centuries of time, fading into deep pools of shadowed thought.

_**9: Insanity **_

When Ienzo first heard the low hum of a quiet laugh in his mind, he wondered if he had imagined it. When he heard it again, he wondered about his own sanity. He wasn't insane, was he? He couldn't be… He was practically a genius; not a resident at an asylum.

_**10: Manipulation **_

When Zexion knew he had finally connected … reconnected… with his own self, he didn't pause for one second, instead moving to initiate his own deadly plan. Manipulation was a rare skill, an inherent talent, and to manipulate your own self required utmost delicacy and patience…

_**11: Refuge**_

When Ienzo's solitude was shattered by a recurring voice in his own mind, he sought a refuge from himself. He found himself in the library, reading as fast as he could, devouring books, the words on the page distracting him and deafening him from the words inside himself.

_**12: Triumph **_

Watching what he had driven Ienzo to do, Zexion remembered the feeling of triumph, the knowledge that you've succeeded, against the odds, against the will of others who would stop you. Nobody was going to stop him. Nobody…

_**13: Knowledge **_

The fear of the voice and the growing thirst for knowledge that Ienzo had inflicted on himself steadily grew, day by day. He became obsessed, searching for new knowledge, imbued now with a love of learning.

_**14: Smirk **_

Zexion couldn't help but smirk at his former naivety as he watched Ienzo try to escape from him, unintentionally playing along to his will…

_**15: Watcher **_

Sometimes when he was reading, Ienzo had the uneasy feeling that someone, somewhere, was watching him, intently studying him. He didn't know whether it was the owner of the voice or someone else, but someone was definitely out there.

_**16: Interest **_

Now that things were going according to plan, Zexion found himself more and more relaxed, but also a lot more interested. To watch things as they had once played out, to view history and physically recreate it, was just too interesting a chance to ignore.

_**17: Chance **_

By seemingly chance, Ienzo saw his watcher when he was leaving the library – a tall, sombre looking man with long blond hair and piercing green eyes. He'd seen him before; he was a local scientist, working under a genius named Ansem. He wondered, though. Was it chance, or something more?

_**18: Even **_

When Zexion saw Even again, for the first time since he'd lost his own heart, he didn't do anything, despite a sharp pain ripping through his chest as he watched him. Half of him wanted to greet him, the other half knew that if he so much as walked by him, his plan would be destroyed. What was the point of catering to nonexistent emotions?

_**19: Invitation **_

The next time Ienzo saw the blond man, he pushed away the echoing laughter in his mind and approached him, defiantly lifting his chin and asking "Why are you watching me?"  
"You seem like an intelligent teenager," the man replied casually. "I was wondering if you'd be interested in joining me and my friends in working with Ansem. We're researching some of the subjects that you've been reading about. Interested?"

_**20: Memories **_

Zexion remembered the mixed emotions that had passed through him as he heard the invitation; the shaky voice with which he had accepted. But memories were all that remained of that now; Ienzo's life was not his own. Half of him felt sorry for condemning what he had once been to his current fate. But to change plans now would be to cancel out his own existence, and Zexion desired above all things to stay alive…

_**21: Intimidation **_

The castle, Ansem's home and laboratory, that dominated Radiant Garden, was incredibly intimidating for a teenager. For once, Ienzo found himself dependent on the voice in his mind, which taught him how to calm himself and appear to be much more intelligent and mature than he felt. It was the first time Ienzo had felt indebted to the intrusion, and this quiet revelation was met with the familiar mocking laugh the teenager had become so used to.

_**22: Nostalgia **_

For someone who could only remember emotions, nostalgia was suffocating Zexion. The long hallways, the echo of footsteps, the bubbling of beakers… The sound of voices that weren't tainted by darkness…

_**23: Xehanort **_

Ienzo was introduced to all of the scientists after he met Ansem, but the most mysterious and enigmatic of them commanded his attention from the very second his amber eyes locked onto Ienzo's sapphire ones. From the moment Ienzo learnt his name, he knew that he would die for Xehanort if the elder so willed it. It wasn't love; it was just blind loyalty and reverence.

_**24: Ansem **_

More than once, Zexion noticed the strange looks that Ienzo received from Ansem, especially when Zexion was trying to persuade his other to do something. He half-wondered if the old man suspected his interference, but then put it out of his mind. It didn't matter. It would never matter. History followed a set course; Zexion had already followed that course. Ansem could not stop them.

_**25: Intelligence **_

Intelligence and memory were the only two weapons which Ienzo possessed, but they were as powerful as any other man-made weapon that his new allies used. They were currently researching the properties of the worlds in the universes, and more than once, Ienzo had shown up the elder scientists with his own intelligence.

_**26: Science **_

Biology and Anatomy were the founding points, the beginnings. If they had been studying any other branch of science – astronomy, hydrology, chemistry, physics, botany, electronics– none of this would have happened. But Zexion knew what had to be done. Of course he knew. After all, Ienzo was the one who suggested changing topics to begin with.

_**27: Anatomy**_

Anatomy: the study of the structure and organization of living things. This is what Ansem and his apprentices were studying, at Ienzo's request. It was an intriguing subject, very closely tied into another subject… One which Xehanort had been showing repeated interest in.

_**28: Biology **_

Over the course of several weeks, the focus changed from Anatomy to Biology. Slowly, without really realizing it, everyone, even Ansem himself, had become drawn by the lure of knowledge; the secrets and forbidden power of the heart was theirs to unlock. Zexion remembered the thrill of studying it, the knowledge that absolute power would theirs as soon as they realized their goal.

_**29: Slavery **_

They were enthralled by the heart. More and more, they frequently found themselves staying up later and later at night, conducting secret experiments, with only the light of a candle to guide them. Ienzo was the most vicious of all apprentices, his hunger for knowledge now turning into a raging storm of furious excitement at what they could discover, if only they could find the way…

_**30: Experiments **_

Soon the apprentices would start to embark on physical ventures into the mysteries of the heart, Zexion recalled, with an aching sense of loss as he watched his former friends, his former self, busily organize preparations. But his own emotions, memories of emotions, were of no consequence. Ienzo now trusted him; he had to make use of that before his chance slipped away.

_**31: Underground **_

When the voice suggested building an underground laboratory, Ienzo was too exhilarated with the idea to even think on the quiet contempt in the tone. He immediately suggested it to Ansem, who agreed without a second thought. And the members delved underground, hiding themselves from the world in shadow, conducting even more experiments.

_**32: Hesitation **_

Zexion watched, now in absolute silence, as Ansem became more and more reluctant as to the nature of the experiments that were being conducted. If only he had known how much worse things were going to get…

_**33: Determination **_

Xehanort, Braig, Dilan, Even, Aeleus and Ienzo were all determined to lay bare the mysteries of the heart, at any cost. It seemed to all of them that the ends justified the means; the knowledge was worth the cruelty. They kept going, reporting their findings to Ansem, until the fateful day came…

_**34: Forbidden **_

Almost amused at his own reaction to Ansem's declaration, Zexion called Ienzo's name, enraging the other even more. But his next suggestion was more calming, more soothing, than any insult that Ienzo had expected. Now that Zexion and Ienzo were truly working together – or so Zexion let Ienzo think– he knew that his plan was at last truly in the final stages.

_**35: Secrecy **_

In utter silence and secrecy, the apprentices, led by Xehanort, continued with their experiments. Now that they didn't have to worry about Ansem's approval, the tests turned gruesome. Creatures called Heartless began to become more and more common in the castle, and the apprentices were rarely seen in the light of day. They jealously guarded their work from outside sources, and if that included their one-time mentor, so be it.

_**36: Fury **_

The day came that Ansem discovered the continuation of the forbidden experiments, and the names of the two who had been responsible for suggesting that they continue it. Zexion, now with Ienzo's mind fully his to manipulate, planted the seeds of hatred in Ienzo's heart, turning him against the old blond man once and for all. The fury of Ansem at his once-loyal apprentices was only matched by the fury of Ienzo at the stupidity of stopping such rewarding research.

_**37: Distrust **_

A day after the confrontation with Ansem, the apprentices were more wary, more guarded than they were before. Their minds were filled with dark and distrusting thoughts, any love they had once felt for their subject fading away to be replaced by jealousy and anger when one of the others intruded on their work.

_**38: Faded **_

The memory of the day that Xehanort disappeared was only too clear to Zexion; seeing it again through Ienzo's eyes was almost painful. The fear of realizing that their leader had disappeared, the mysterious streaks of blood on the floor, the single silver hair on the ground… Yes, Xehanort had disappeared, but Zexion reassured Ienzo with absolute certainty; he wasn't dead. Not yet.

_**39: Vanished **_

Braig was the first to follow in Xehanort's footsteps, vanishing almost a week later. Ansem was throwing caution to the winds now, trying to protect the apprentices. Ienzo sneered at the futile attempt; he knew that what was after them couldn't be stopped by locked doors and windows.

_**40: Guilt. **_

Zexion felt a physical pain shoot through him every time one of his friends, or they who had once been his friends, fall to the darkness. The anguish he felt each time their physical body was destroyed and replaced with a heartless recreation was like nothing he'd ever felt before. He realized what it was though, soon after he watched Dilan fall. It was guilt. An actual, real emotion…

_**41: Fear**_

Ienzo, while not fully worried about the strange disappearances, was still uneasy about them. He had been reassured about them, but he could sense a strange… sadness? almost from something within him. Uneasiness turned into concern; concern into fear.

_**42: Weariness **_

As Aeleus and Even fell, Zexion felt the weariness of fatigue begin to fall over him. He tired of his charade… He watched in mute silence as Even's lifeless body sprawled on the ground, the heart torn out by a vicious heartless. Once his final preparations were complete, he returned to what had once been his lab, waiting for Ienzo.

_**43: Incredulity **_

When Ienzo saw Zexion, shock and astonishment flicked across his features. "Who are you?! How did you get in here?!"  
Zexion met Ienzo's gaze coolly. "You know who I am."  
Ienzo reeled back. "You … can't … You can't be!"

_**44: Cruelty **_

"I am. I always have been." Zexion's words were laced with power. "I manipulated you into this, every step of the way. I was once your friend; I was once your enemy. But I am you. There is no denying that."

_**44: Imprisoned **_

Ienzo's pain and grief at the revelation of the slim Nobody before him tore away all other emotion. Rage was all that was left. And so when Ansem interrupted the two, a look of astonishment on his features, it was with no regret that Ienzo watched the elder man become imprisoned inside another of Zexion's illusions… This one, of an impenetrable darkness that would all too soon become reality.

_**45: Blood **_

Zexion felt the remnants of vindictive joy well up inside him as he watched the man who he had once served disappear into a prison of his own making, dark blood splattering across the floor. Then he stretched out a hand, an offering of peace, to Ienzo. "Come."

_**46: Refusal **_

"I'm not going anywhere with you, traitor!" Ienzo declared. "You're the one behind the deaths of my friends!"  
"So in turn you were the one responsible for their deaths? This was entirely necessary. You'll understand someday..."  
Ienzo paused at the cyclical structure of that statement, eyes narrowing with rage. He barely even noticed the darkening lights, the shadows moving without a visible source…

_**47: Darkness **_

Zexion's darker nature rejoiced in the now-shadowy lab, the absence of light only serving to heighten his power. Illusions were swirling around them, dizzyingly, beautiful, gruesome… He took a step forward. "You are I; I am you. We are one and the same. You becoming what I am. The same is with the darkness. You embrace it, even as I do; you prefer midnight to dawn. The lure of power is what we are both seeking; darkness and darkness alone can give you that. Knowledge beyond all you ever dreamt of possessing; a release from the pain of having to exist in the light!"

_**48: Choice **_

Ienzo's eyes were locked onto Zexion's identical ones. He saw the truth; the power which he would command; that which he would become. Knowing that he could never turn back, he bowed his head and whispered the fatal words "I know what you want me to do." He lifted his head up slightly, not daring to look Zexion in the eye anymore. "How do I join you?"

_**49: Acceptance **_

Zexion's triumph at having lead Ienzo this far drowned him momentarily. He had succeeded! Slowly and with utter grace, Zexion lifted a hand, summoning his Lexicon. Holding the thick book close to him, he flicked through the pages, alighting on a terrifying heartless. Ienzo still refused to look him in the eye, but Zexion took a step forward and said quietly "Thank you."  
Ienzo looked up for the last time, light still shining in his eyes, eyes that suddenly seemed too old. "I accept the darkness; I accept my death." Voice now shaking with something like fear, he said "They'll be there, won't they? Even, Aeleus and the rest?"  
"Under a different name. But you will recognize them. I promise."

_**50: Together **_

Flexing his wrist and taking a step back from Ienzo, Zexion summoned the Heartless. Immediately disregarding Zexion as a threat, it leapt at Ienzo. The young man was thrown to the ground, slate coloured hair covering one eye as he reflexively strove to keep the beast away from him.  
"Relax," Zexion commanded softly, sinking to his knees beside his Nobody. Seconds passed, and then Ienzo's body disappeared into a small shadow heartless. Zexion felt his power increase as Ienzo joined with him mentally, and said out loud, laughing quietly at the irony of it all "I've done what Xemnas never managed to do. I've retrieved the emotions that I myself ripped away from us."  
Now laughing out loud, he strode out of the Radiant Castle, his whisper floating on the wind.

"The power of a heart willingly chained to darkness; a heart that sacrificed itself into nonexistence; a heart that chose darkness over light… That power is the true power of darkness; the power of illusions become incarnate. I created an illusion of emotions; I created real emotions. I created an illusion of life; I created life. I created an illusion of power; I am power incarnate. Now who can tell the difference between reality and illusion, if they have become entwined beyond all recall? I can unleash your darkest memories or nightmares and make them come to life; I can save you from yourself and give you a life lived in illusions of happiness or whatever you want. Who in the living universe can now tell the difference between reality an illusion?"

He stopped at the edge of Radiant Garden, a massive swirling portal behind him. He screamed, voice carrying over the world "I CAN!"

And nobody else in the universe could or would be able to differentiate ever again.


End file.
